


A Spark

by Gowombat83



Series: Cullen and Ygrette [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 16:32:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11763927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gowombat83/pseuds/Gowombat83
Summary: Ygrette Trevelyan meets the Commander of the Inquisition, just in time to face the breach which might kill her.





	A Spark

This was a dream, surely just a dream. Or a nightmare.  Being thrust through a rip in the fade into the middle of a war, with demons no less, and this mark, Ygrette couldn’t believe this was all real. Perhaps that’s why she did it. It’s easy to be bold while you’re asleep. They’d come to the pass, the fighting raging all around but the Seeker dragged her through the chaos towards certain death, when all she wanted was to run or hide until she woke up. And just as she’d almost made her mind up to turn and flee he was there. Tawny eyes fierce with battle rage, sword dripping black, messy curls stuck to his damp brow, standing before her like a warrior of legend. Her legs turned to lead under that that imposing amber glare. He was speaking but it took her a moment to realise and even longer to begin to understand what he had said. When she did, she wished she hadn’t.  

“I hope they’re right about you, we’ve lost a lot of people getting  you here.”

It was surreal, as if time had slowed around her, the sounds of clashing weapons and claws and the howls of men dying and demons bellowing receded into the background.  She became numbed to the cold of the snow and bitting air, the sharp pain crackling through the veins in her hand from the mark. Her world shrank to a small, hushed bubble. It felt as if she were floating for a moment, only to suddenly slam back into her body with the weight of his words.

Died, people had died for her. But why, who was she? A noble’s daughter, but certainly no-one anyone should die for. A nightmare, definitely a nightmare. And she was about to run head first deeper in to close the breach. Or perhaps to die herself in the attempt. The Commander had given his orders, she was to go to the temple while he threw more soldiers against the horde to clear her path. The intensity as he measured her was almost frightening as he promised them what time he could give, as though weighing the lives of many againt her own. It was all too much. She prayed she was good enough, and saw his eyes narrow as he was undoubtedly thinking the same.

She was about to march toward her probable death, a death that would doom him and everyone in Haven if she failed. Ygrette could have wished for a million possible things in that moment, had a million different regrets, but since she was trying to  convince herself she was dreaming she had only one thought. Before she could question it Ygrette was moving, two quick steps to close the gap between them she flung her arms about the Commanders neck, digging her fingers deep into his hair she pulled him down to meet her lips. His apparent shock worked in her favour as he didn’t resist. Ygrette pressed her mouth desperately to his, demanding to be kissed. It was quick and hard and messy, but it was the best thing she had ever felt and likely would be the last good thing before whatever was going to happen on the mountain happened.

Ygrette was young, there was so much she’d never get to see, or do, or be. If this was to be it she wanted to give something of herself to someone, only a kiss, but it was all she would have. She poured herself into the kiss, a brief flash of all she would miss of the experiences life promised to those who lived long enough to receive them. If only that someone would know her for a moment it would have to be enough. She broke away breathlessly, her hands still gripping his neck as he bent over her, and she felt her eyes prick with hot tears when all he reflected was confusion.

She could never truly explain, but she tried, “Just once I wanted to kiss a beautiful man,” her voice throbbed thick and broken from her tightened throat. His piercing topaz gaze searched her, for what she didn’t know, but there was no more time. Ygrette released him as suddenly as she’d grabbed him, she turned on a heel and strode towards the waiting Seeker, the breach, and her end.

*

Something made him hesitate. Something in her eyes, in her manner.  He was a warrior in his prime, reflexes as sharp as they’d ever been but when she’d stepped into him and pressed her trembling hands to draw him downward he didn’t stop her. Maybe it was the glassy look of shock in her eyes, or the fear behind it. Maybe it was his own need for a kind touch, an unexpected opportunity for a tiny moment of comfort from another, something he’d long denied himself.

Whatever the reason, when she kissed him he’d let her. She’d looked so lost and vulnerable, clearly high-born with her delicate features and fine structure, milk-pale skin and wide azure eyes. And so young, younger than her years. She didn’t belong in a war zone. When she spoke then the few tremulous words told him everything he needed to know. “Just once I wanted to kiss a beautiful man.”

In one sentence she’d laid herself bare and he was defenceless. Ever the protector he suddenly wanted to save her from this, but it could not be. As he searched her face he learned how very innocent she was, that she’d had hopes for her life and her future, and that she believed she was going to die today.

Cullen’s chest squeezed as a flourish of deep claret curls swirled about her shoulders as she turned from him and ran towards her fate. She’d given him all she had to give in the moment of time she had left, she’d shared herself with him unreservedly. For all her young and sheltered years he was awed that she would walk to face her death for the sake of them all, where many others would have fled. It humbled him, but as all of this flickered through his mind in bare seconds he also felt the ice cold weight in his stomach at the truth that there was nothing more he could do for her but to give her time. The rest was up to her, the responsibility of all of their lives rested upon those slender shoulders. He knew that kind of pressure, he was trained for it, and he knew the one thing a soldier, a leader must have is absolute faith. The one person who might have a chance to save them all, untrained and inexperienced in war and in life, was resigned to her own death.

That she still chose to go on, to sacrifice herself for the cause, showed what a remarkable woman she would become. So he would give her time. He would throw his forces into the teeth of the horde and hope she could do what they couldn't, and if she couldn’t believe in herself then he’d just have to believe enough for them both. Because the woman who’d just walked away from him was stronger than she knew, and right now she was all they had. Absently Cullen clenched his jaw at the dull heavy thud from deep within his chest, something he’d thought long since cold and dead beginning to stir unnoticed as he turned toward his task.

*

Shit! The Seeker saw it, and all she could think was, _shit!_  Not the kiss, not the fact that he’d allowed the kiss when she knew he could have stopped it, and not even the words Ygrette had spoken which sounded of defeat before they’d even began. Cassandra had been working with the stern and reserved Commander Rutherford  for long enough now to have learned a few things. Not that he ever spoke of himself but she’d done her investigations prior to recruiting him, and she’d learned to read him in the subtle ways he unconsciously communicated. Like right now when he’d returned Ygrettes unexpected kiss, the clench of his jaw when she'd calmly accepted it as inevitable that she was going to die in the temple, his intense golden stare that burned with both respect and concern as he watched her go.

Cassandra had hope that Ygrette would close the breach though no-one really knew what to expect, and she saw that Cullen did to. Because of the mark yes, but it was more than that now.  She’d seen it in his eyes, seen the moment something in him shifted. There was a very real risk that the young Trevelyan would die, it would have been a devastating blow to the Inquisition before but now it would be catastrophic. In those few short moments Ygrette had subtly and irrevocably sparked the beginnings of a change in their Commander, and if she died now Cassandra suspected it would take yet another piece from him. She wasn’t sure what was needed from him wasn’t already more than he had to offer given his past, but the Inquisition needed Cullen whole if they had any chance of winning.

She did allow herself one small moment though to smile, a closet romantic, she couldn't help the little twinge at the idea that perhaps finally someone might be able to start to thaw the Fereldan man's frozen heart. They just had to survive the breach first.

**Author's Note:**

> Playing around with some shifting POV, I like to experiment with different writing styles, still trying to develop my own voice so I hope it works here.


End file.
